Sound Transit Doesn’t Need 2nd Seattle DowntownTunnel

The June 1^st Seattle Times Traffic Lab front page article “Chinatown says not so fast to building second light rail station in neighborhood” exemplifies a decade of the Seattle Times abetting Sound Transit Board incompetence.   The problem,  

 

“A second station is part of the ST3 ballot measure voters from King Snohomish and Pierce counties passed in 2016, to help anchor what’s currently a $13 billion corridor linking downtown to West Seattle and Ballard”

 

The reason

 

To provide a new tunnel and greater capacity for the whole region to traverse downtown Seattle

 

It continues the Sound Transit approach to public transit is to create 3 light rail lines to “traverse downtown Seattle.” The 1 Line will use the new tunnel to “traverse downtown Seattle” from Ballard to Tacoma.  The 2 Line light rail route will “traverse Seattle” from Redmond to Mariner through DSTT and the extension to Everett. It will share the route with the 3 Line route through  DSTT to “traverse Seattle” from West Seattle to Everett.  

 

Sound Transit seemingly doesn’t recognize its goal should be to provide transit ridership into and out of downtown Seattle, not traverse the city.   Ballard commuters have very little reason to “traverse downtown Seattle” to Tacoma.  Sound Transit should use a tunnel that terminates the link at Westlake and avoid the cost and disruption of creating a tunnel that traverses Seattle.  Terminating the Ballard Link at Westlake would avoid operating schedules set by the need for capacity to and from Tacoma. Those wanting to go further could transfer to trains at the station.

 

East side commuters also have little need to traverse downtown Seattle to reach Mariner, and vice versa.  Sound Transit should terminate the 2 Line at the International District/Chinatown Station.  It would allow schedules needed to meet east side demand rather than limited to half of the DSTT light rail trains.  Line 1 routes to and from Tacoma would have access to full DSTT capacity that could be shared by Line 3 from West Seattle into downtown Seattle.  Again, east side commuters could transfer at the International District/Chinatown station to go further. 

 

The bottom line is Sound Transit doesn’t need a $13 billion “tricky path through Chinatown International District” that wrecks years of havoc on the area as well as along 4^th and 5^th Avenues.  What it needs is a light rail route system that reflects the need is to get commuters into and out of downtown Seattle not to traverse through.  Terminating the routes from Ballard and Redmond  at Westlake and International District/Chinatown will allow schedules that reflect their need for public transit capacity.  

What it also needs as a transportation system is one that recognizes Line 1 doesn’t need to be extended beyond SeaTac or Line 2 and Line 3 beyond Northgate. 4-car light rail trains on those routes don’t have the capacity to reduce peak hour multi-lane freeway congestion into Seattle.  That requires using BRT routes along limited access lanes to an elongated bus only 4^th Ave T/C.

 Something neither Sound Transit nor Seattle Times Traffic Lab recognize.